


Nightfall

by Namixart



Category: Final Fantasy IV
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, honestly that should be my middle name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8105956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namixart/pseuds/Namixart
Summary: While they may bicker all the time during the day, Edge and Rydia seem to be uncharacteristically close when the night falls. Rosa notices a lot, but says nothing.





	

Apparently, Edge was the only fun one in their party. And maybe Rydia, but her vague age was definitely _not_ enough for Rosa to let her near alcohol. Or maybe it was and Rosa was just in denial. Come to think of it, Edge wasn’t much older than her, but Rosa didn’t know him as a child, so he got a pass. Maybe Rosa was just a _teensy weensy_ tipsy. Nah, that didn’t sound right.

So. Edge being the fun one. Yes.

The Lali-Ho Pub was a little empty and Rosa blamed it on her two childhood friends. Cecil had blabbered something about _atonement_ and _abstinence,_ while Kain - the big, fat liar - had glanced once at the bottle and said you couldn’t trust dwarven wine. Edge happily poured some of it down on Kain’s head and declared he was _so_ going to have a fun drinking night.

Rydia left soon after them, claiming Edge was going to be an awfully obnoxious drunk.

Rosa had to disagree. Edge was full of surprises, and one of them was him being a very sad drunk.

He gulped down three glasses and promptly plopped down on the table. Rosa blinked. Edge had a high tolerance. She glanced warily at her second drink and smoothly poured it in the nearest vase.

You can’t trust dwarven wine. Duh.

Rosa poked Edge in the arm. He looked up at her with the saddest gray eyes she’d ever seen.

Her caring nature quickly took over, even sobering her up a little.

“Edge?” she asked under her breath.

He gulped down a sob and lowered his gaze again, burying his face into his folded arms.

“Edge, what’s wrong?”

“No’hing.” he slurred, a bit muffled by his arms.

“’t’s Rydia.”

“Which is it? Nothing or Rydia?”

Maybe she still was a little tipsy.

“Both. She hates me.”

Okay. _That_ sobered her up.

“What!? No, she doesn’t.” she squeaked.

“Does too.”

“Does not.”

“Does too.”

“Does- Why would you think that?”

“She ne’er laughs while I’m ‘round. She ne’er smiles and she doesn’t see it.”

Rosa had a feeling about where this was going, but asked it anyway.

“What doesn’t she see?” she whispered.

“That I love her so much I might die.”

Rosa gasped, startled by his unfiltered confession. Then, her eyes softened and she ran soothing hand through his messy hair.

“You’re right, she doesn’t see it. But believe me when I say she could never hate you.”

He lifted his head and stared at her with glassy eyes.

“Really?” he said, and he sounded like a child who has been promised something unexpected.

Rosa smiled and nodded silently.

Edge smiled back and put his head down on his arms. He was asleep after a moment.

Rosa sighed. Rydia was going to get a gentle nudge in the right direction. Maybe even a gentle shove.

 

* * *

 

A few days later Rosa was woken up in the middle of the night by Kain gently shaking her shoulder. Right, her shift.

She yawned. Kain smiled and gestured for her to be quiet. Rosa cocked her head to the side, questioningly.

Kain pointed to somewhere behind her. Leaning against the stone walls, Edge and Rydia were sleeping together.

She was nuzzled into his side, her head tucked in the crook of his neck and her legs tangled with his. Edge had an arm lazily draped over her waist and his free hand lay on his stomach, a few inches away from Rydia’s.

Rosa took a sharp intake of breath.

“They’re _cuddling_.” she whisper-yelled, fighting to keep the elation quiet.

Kain chuckled under his breath and gave her an amused look.

Rosa made a shooing motion with her hands and walked towards a rock to sit down and start her shift. As Kain fumbled in the dark to get in bed, she looked over to the youngest of their little group and remembered Edge’s words a few days before.

She smiled.

 

The morning after that, Rosa didn’t have the heart to tease them. She did, however, notice the shy smile Rydia gave Edge and her hushed ‘ _thank you_ ’. The white mage lifted an eyebrow. Thanks for what?

Edge shrugged and smiled back. As Rydia turned around, his smile fell and a shadow of pain clouded his eyes.

Rosa frowned. What?

 

The second night it happened, Rosa found them face to face, legs tangled and hands clasped together. She felt her chest clench painfully when she had to wake Edge up for his shift.

He blinked away the sleep and seemed to register the situation. He gently pried Rydia’s fingers from his, but held them a little longer then necessary when she reached blindly for him.

When Edge got up, Rosa shot him a warm, knowing smile, which he didn’t return.

“I know what you’re thinking.” he said, shaking his head.

“It helps with her nightmares.” he whispered, walking away.

Oh.

Her heart broke for him in that very moment.

 

The third time, Rosa was woken up by Rydia’s ragged breath beside her.

She didn’t open her eyes, because Edge was kneeling down by her side in a second.

“Rydia, wake up.” he said, and it’s the softest he’d ever sounded to Rosa.

She opened one eye. Edge was gently shaking Rydia’s shoulder and whispering her name over and over. Eventually, the girl’s eyes snapped open, bloodshot and teary. She suddenly sat up and threw her arms around Edge’s neck.

“Edge.” she breathed.

The boy wrapped his arms around her and held on tight, smoothing down her hair and letting her cry in his shoulder. Rosa couldn’t hear her properly, but the words ‘mother’ and ‘fire’ rang painfully clear.

Edge loosened a bit his embrace to take her face in his hands. He smiled softly and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away the tears.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” he whispered.

Rydia let out a shaky breath and attempted a teary smile.

“Stay with me?” she asked, holding onto his hands like they were her last anchor to reality.

Edge nodded.

“Forever.” he said, pressing a light kiss on Rydia’s forehead.

She smiled again as she curled up next to him, hands still entertwined.

Rosa smiled as well, closing her eyes.

 

* * *

 

A few weeks later, Rosa woke up for no apparent reason during Edge’s shift. As per usual, he was cuddled up with Rydia, with her back pressed on his chest and his arms loosely wrapped around her waist.

They were talking quietly. Rosa immediately felt like an intruder and tried to get back to sleep, unsuccessfully.

“Why?” Rydia asked.

“I just feel like it.”

Edge’s voice wavered too much for him to fool anyone, let alone Rydia.

“You don’t just… sleep with a girl to chase away her nighmares for over a month because _you feel like it_. What is it?” she scoffed.

Edge chuckled.

“Well, not any girl. You’re kind of a special case.”

Rydia rolled into his embrace to face him.

“Edge.” she said, the annoyance clear in her voice.

The boy sighed.

“Can’t you just let it go? I want to help you, isn’t it enough?”

She didn’t answer at first. She took one of his hands and held it between her bodies.

“Please.” she breathed.

“Fine.” Edge sighed “But you’re not going to like it.”

Rosa held her breath. She really needed to be asleep, but her brain wouldn’t let her, fixated as it was on the scene playing out in front of her.

Edge took a deep breath and cupped her cheek with his free hand.

“I love you, okay? And it kills me to see you having those nightmares. I… want to be there every day of your life to chase them away until they can’t get to you anymore. I just-”

He took a deep breath.

“I just love you so much. But I’m not doing this to get anything out of you. I just want to help you.”

Rydia fell silent.

“See? I told you it- _mmph!”_

Rydia had grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Edge’s first reaction was complete and utter shock, but when Rydia pressed on with her lips, he brought a tentative hand to her jaw and started to respond.

From her vantage point, Rosa could see the kiss becoming more and more heated, until they ran out of air and had to separate.

“What… what was that for?” Edge stammered, his blush evident even in the dark.

Rydia looked even more out of it that he was, and could only stutter incomprehensible noises for about a minute.

“I… I…” she babbled, panicking.

Edge waited patiently until she regained some composure.

“I… love you too?” Rydia finally offered, burying her face in her hands.

Edge’s encouraging smile grew into the widest and happiest grin Rosa had ever seen.

And it was too much for her. She had to physically roll over to hide her excitement and to squeal softly in her pillow, while all she could hear were half formed sentences and the unmistakable sounds of fast butterfly kisses.

That had been too sweet for her heart. It was about to collapse, Rosa was sure of it.

She opened one eye and was met with Cecil’s wide awake face.

He winked and gestured for silence. A quick glance around the cavern revealed that Kain wasn’t sleeping either and was struggling to keep his chuckles silent. Rosa glared at both men. _Not a word._

 

The following morning, there was a general atmosphere of optimism and lightheadedness. During their trek through the cavern, Rosa dared to discreetly glance back.

Edge and Rydia were walking much closer than usual and they were talking to each other in hushed tones, all while keeping a wide smile on their faces.

Rosa smiled as well and turned back. Those were levels of sweetness even she wasn’t prepared for.

Looks like Rydia didn’t need a gentle shove after all.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah. I keep coming back to these two losers.  
> From now on call me [whatever my real name is] Tooth-Rotting Fluff [whatever my last name is]. Also I swear I can write better than this. I just wanted to toy with their relationship from someone else's point of view.


End file.
